Tag Archives: ethiopia

The Ethiopian Prime Minister came together with the Sudanese Foreign Minister to discuss a planned railway line linking the two countries. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Tuesday held talks with visiting Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti. Talks focused on a planned railway line linking the two neighboring countries, according to Ethiopia's official ENA news service. The railway line is scheduled to be launched next year.

Awash Woldia/Hara Gebeya Railway Project is a new railway line being constructed between the Ethiopian towns Awash and Woldia. Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC), the owner of the project, is investing $1.7bn in the project. The new line will be completed by December 2015. The new railway line will connect northern Ethiopia with central region. It will also link the northern and eastern transportation network of Ethiopia.Background, purpose and benefits of the Awash Woldia/Hara Gebeya railway projectThe Ethiopian Government has been undertaking several transportation projects as part of a five-year growth and transformation plan (GTP), which aims to enhance the transportation network within the country by connecting to adjacent countries and ports. It will provide efficient mobility and improve the export and import activities, boosting the economic development. National Railway Network of Ethiopia (NRNE) is one of the several projects constituted in the plan.

The Ethiopian government will introduce new laws to curb illegal immigration including penal codes of up to 8 years in prisonThe Ethiopian government plans to draft a bill introducing harsher penalties in an effort to curb illegal immigration, an Ethiopian official said Saturday. Solomon Tesfaye, the head of administrative affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, told The Anadolu Agency that the government also plans to introduce another bill to ensure the safety of Ethiopians working abroad.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has signed an agreement with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) for the plan to build a 198-meter building for CBE's headquarters in Ethiopia, which is expected to be the tallest structure in East Africa.A signing ceremony of the 46-storey building was held on Tuesday at CBE's head office in the capital Addis Ababa.Speaking at the ceremony, CBE President, Bekalu Zeleke, said CBE and CSCEC would be committed to the success of the project as "it reflects the image of both sides.""Not only the height, but the overall quality of the building, we believe that this will be one of the best buildings in Africa," he said.

Debre Berhan industrial area in Ethiopia will see seven companies in various sectors construct manufacturing factories, an investment totaling to US$112.1m (2.3 Billion Birr). The Mayor of Debre Birhan has said that the factories will help create jobs and welcome other manufacturing units into the region. The cornerstones for the different factories were laid down on 24TH this month at a ceremony attended by key Ethiopia government officials, company heads and owners.A tractor and agricultural equipment assembly firm TGT Enterprises is one of the companies to set up its factories in the region. Juniper Glass Industries PLC is also set to construct the first glass bottle factory at the Debre Berhan industrial area. The factory will be constructed at a cost of US$50m. US-based Roha Ventures is the parent company of Juniper.

Just over thirty years ago, Ethiopia’s famine regularly made the news. Gruesome accounts of up to a million deaths stemming from drought and civil war captured the attention of aid agencies, sympathetic governments, and humanitarian groups around the world. Contrast that with the past decade, when Ethiopia averaged an economic growth rate of slightly better than 10 percent. The about-face has been so dramatic that some seasoned observers have gone so far as to call Ethiopia’s progress an economic miracle, dubbing the country an “African lion” whose success recalls that of Asia’s economic tigers. Encouraged by its accomplishments, the governing Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) continues to focus on a high-growth strategy aimed at making Ethiopia a middle-income country by 2025. To the casual observer, this goal appears increasingly within reach. Ethiopia is not just growing, but has already met or is coming close to meeting some of its important Millennium Development Goals, including universal primary education and reductions in infant mortality. The country’s poverty rate fell from 44 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2011. Unemployment rates, though still high, have been coming down. And the number of Ethiopian millionaires has increased faster than in any other African country.